Collaborative conservation takes many hands, and we’re all about partnering with other organizations, groups, and individuals to push good work forward. Our North-Central Field Representative, Morgan Marks, has a unique role as she is MWF’s first dual hire with our partner and an affiliated organization, @National Wildlife Federation (NWF). For the past two summers, she has been coordinating, recruiting, and managing volunteers, and we’re excited to share her newest blog written for NWF with all of you so we’ve included part of it below!
Conservation Work Benefits from Many Hands
By Morgan Marks
We’ve been at it again! A summer spent in the field carrying out focused restoration work to retain water on the landscape for longer. Together with volunteers, we’ve covered a lot of ground, putting the building blocks in place to restore critical wildlife habitat in riparian areas.
What might surprise many people is that beavers are our mentors. And we’re not alone. Folks across the nation are learning lessons from beavers, including a rancher in Nevada, who was featured in the New York Times. We’ll own it: We’re proud to be among the crowd taking lessons from one of nature’s wisest creatures.
Nature knows the way, and we’re learning to listen. If we pay close attention, we’ve discovered she’ll tell us which direction to take and how we can restore places to benefit both wildlife and communities. It’s all about using low-tech restoration practices, and working with natural elements such as rocks, willows, logs, and sticks to build dams, like beavers would.
Surprised? You shouldn’t be. These practices are tried, tested, and monitored over time.
Bureau of Land Management staff securing willows in trucks and a trailer. Credit: Morgan Marks
